Juneau slides two spots in state's football polls

Posted: Monday, August 27, 2001

By THE JUNEAU EMPIRE

The Juneau-Douglas High School football team slipped two places in the Anchorage Daily News/Alaska State Football Coaches Polls released today, dropping from third last week into a tie for fifth place.

The Crimson Bears (3-0 overall, 2-0 in the Cook Inlet Football Conference) struggled in the first half of their 28-10 victory over the winless West Anchorage Eagles on Saturday, trailing 10-7 midway through the third quarter before finally pulling away for the victory. The victory was Juneau's first on the road since the 1999 state playoffs, but the early struggles still caught the attention of the panel of coaches.

The East Anchorage Thunderbirds (3-0) retained the top spot in the poll with seven of the 10 first-place votes and 47 points. Chugiak (3-0) was second with two first-place votes and 34 points, while defending large schools state champion Dimond (2-1) jumped from the fifth spot to third with one first-place vote and 25 points.

West Valley (3-0) held the fourth spot in the poll with 24 points, followed by Juneau and Palmer (3-0) in a tie for fifth place with nine points.

Juneau plays at No. 2 Chugiak at 2 p.m. on Saturday in a game that will be broadcast locally on KINY, 800-AM.

The Crimson Bears weren't the only Southeast team to slip in the polls this week, but at least they stayed in the large schools poll. The Sitka Wolves, No. 5 last week in the small schools poll, didn't get a point this week after losing 37-12 last Saturday to No. 5 Houston.

The Wolves (1-2) didn't score until the fourth quarter when Travis Bradshaw hit Elgin Hollins with a touchdown pass and ran it on a quarterback keeper for another score. The winless Ketchikan Kings (0-2) also didn't pick up a point in the poll after losing 72-0 to No. 2 Kenai Central on Saturday.

The defending small schools state champion Nikiski Bulldogs (2-1) retained the top spot in the poll with six of the seven first-place votes and 33 points. Kenai Central (3-0) picked up the other first-place vote and had 25 points. Homer (3-0) was third with 19 points, Skyview (2-1) was fourth with 13 points and Houston (1-2) rounded out the top-five with eight points.